Minnesota hospital wants to deport comatose patient to Pakistan

After suffering severe injuries in a car accident and falling into a comatose state, a Pakistani exchange student is about to be effectively deported by a Minnesota hospital.

Now, his family is looking for a way to keep the young man in the
United States, arguing that sending him back to a “third
world country health care system” could essentially ensure
his death.

Back in November, 20-year-old Muhammad Shahzeib Bajwa and his
friends were driving from Minneapolis back to the University of
Wisconsin-Superior when they accidentally struck a deer.
According to the exchange student’s brother, Shahraiz Bajwa, the
deer crashed through the windshield and fractured Shazeib’s
skull.

Although Shahzeib Bajwa arrived at hospital conscious and able to
speak, he choked on blood after vomiting and went into cardiac
arrest for several minutes. He’s been transferred to Essentia
Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, but according to his brother,
the heart attack caused brain damage.

“Some of the doctors were saying that his brain is completely
gone, but every doctor has a different opinion. Some of the
doctors said 'No, he needs some time,'” Shahraiz Bajwa told
local ABC affiliate WDIO.

Currently Bajwa can open his eyes, squeeze his mothers hand, and
shrug his shoulders, but the Associated Press reports that
doctors won’t know how much further the recovery can go for
another two years or so.

The problem? His student visa expires on February 28, and
Essentia has been pushing the family to authorize a transfer back
to Pakistan. Concerned over what might happen during a 24-hour
flight, Shahraiz Bajwa added that their health insurance policy
would only get his brother about three months of care back home.

"If we take him back to Pakistan this is certainly pushing
him toward death," Shahraiz Bajwa told the AP. "We don't
want him to die in a miserable condition in a third-world
country. It's better if he stays here."

For its part, the hospital told WDIO that it’s simply complying
with the State Department’s decision on the matter.

“The U.S. State Department is not renewing Mr. Bajwa's visa,
therefore he is not legally allowed to stay in the country,”
Maureen Talarico, an Essentia spokesperson, said in a statement.
“St. Mary’s Medical Center has been working with the State
Department, which is making arrangements for Mr. Bajwa's medical
transport home. This is an unfortunate situation and his
caregivers are working closely with Mr. Bajwa's family to ensure
the smoothest transition possible.”

Still, hospitals have deported patients in the past, even those
in comatose states. A 2013 AP review found that at least 800
patients have been deported without their consent over the past
six years. Multiple hospitals do this to limit the costs incurred
by treatment, often without discussing the matter with government
agencies, the judicial system, or gaining authorization from the
patient or their families.

Last year, a New Jersey hospital came under fire for deporting a Polish man who’d
suffered a stroke. Wladyslaw Haniszewski, 69, had lived in the US
for decades, but was transferred to Poland – without gathering
consent or notifying his family that he’d been deported – after
the hospital realized he was an undocumented immigrant.

As for Shahzeib Bajwa, his family’s attorney is looking into ways
to keep the student in the US, and his family is hoping a
politician or third party organization will intervene in the
matter.